Washing-machine



Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESS:

A TTORNEY H. S. CRAVER.

WASHING MACHINE. APPLlCATlON FILED DEC.26. 1919.

1,361,228, I Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ATTORNEYJ.

UNITED STATES PATENT IZOFIFICE.

EDWARD S. CRAVER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY S.

JUDD, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WASHING-MACHINE. I

To all whom vita/Lay concern.

Be' it known that I, HOWARD S. CRAVER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and'State uentl called vacuum cu s reci rocate vertically and at the same time have an intermittent rotary motion. In washing machines operating upon this principle the clothes sometimes become wrapped around the center post, thus choking the machine and damaging the clothes. The general object of my. invention is-to provide meanswhereby the plungers will, in addition to their vertical movement, be caused to ro tate intermittently, first in one direction and then in the other direction, thus preventing the clothes from being wound around the center post;

-I accomplish my objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

in which Figure 1 is an assemblyview of practically the-complete'machine showing the tub or receptacle in centralvertic'al section.

Fig. 2 is a plan view'of the ratchet wheel, pawl and associated parts. F ig. 3 is a central verticalsection of. the parts shown in Fig. 2. i

Fig. 4 is a view looking toward the 'left in Fig. 3 but showing the entire ratchet wheel and pawl carrier instead of only a portion thereof as in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the ratchet .wheel.

Fig. 6 is similar to Fig. 2, but shows the large tooth of the-double pawl-in engagement with the ratchet wheel.

'Z is aperspective view of the double parts in changed position.

Fig. 9 is a front'elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 8. V Fig. 10 is a bottom plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 9.

Like numerals denote like parts throughout the .several views. I

In the form selected to illustrate the inspecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

Application filed December 26, 1919. Serial No. 347,558

vention, a clothes receptacle 1 is mounted upon a stationary-frame 2 of any suitable deslgn. At the center of the receptacle is a center post 3 which is hollow and forms a uidelfor the main shaft 4. .A yoke 5 is astened to the shaft above post 3 and carries two vertical stems .6 which extend into the sleeves 7 of the plungers or vacuum cups '14. The frame is also suspended in part from a stationary screw 16 which is prov1ded wlth a nut 17 upon which one side of the frame rests. These parts constitute an adjustable suspension for the motor. The

power from the motor is delivered through a belt 20 to a sheave 22 rigidly fastened to a shaft 23 provided with a pinion 24 which meshes with a 'gear'wheel 25, rigidly fastened to a shaft 26. An'-arm 28 is rigidly fastened to shaft 26, the same constituting a crank which is connected by means of a link vor pitman 30 to the main operating lever 32. Lever. 32 is pivoted at one end of a stationary pin 33 and at the other end is connected by a link 34 to a coupling 36 which is so constructed that it controls the position of shaft 4 vertically, but ermits it to rotate although the coupling 1tself is 30 and lever 32 will move up and down and produce a corresponding vertical movement of the main shaft .4 and vacuum cups 8.

Rigidly fastened to shaft 4 above the coupling 36 is a ratchet wheel 40. Its teeth are of special design and will be presently described. -The ratchet wheel cooperates with a double pawl which is provided with two teeth 42 and 43. The pawl is mounted in a carrier 45 and while the design may be varied, said carrier has a cylindrical chamber 46 formed in it which extends ra.

dially with respect to the ratchet wheel. It

of the pawl. A stem 49 extends backward from' this cylindrical portion and out through a suitable aperture in the Outer end forms a guide 'for the cylindrical portion 48 of the carrier. Rotation of the pawl about its longitudinal axis is prevented by a pin 50 which extends transversely through stem 49 and works in a slot 52 formed in the outer end of the carrier. A helical compression spring 53 is interposed between the back of the cylindrical portion 48 and the end of chamber 46, thus constantly urgin the pawl toward the ratchet wheel.

The teeth or pawls 42, 43 face in opposlte directions and the upper one is longer than the lower one. The purpose of this is to enable the upper and longer one to ride upon the top, blank surface of the ratchet wheel and thus form a support for the pawl and pawl carrier and hold the shorter tooth in r the plane of the ratchet wheel when the latter is being driven in one direction. The upper tooth is so long that when the lower tooth is in engagement with the ratchet wheel the upper tooth-will project radially inward beyond the root of the ratchet teeth, thus preventing the longer tooth from dropping down into the spaces between the teeth. The pawl carrier makes a loose fit upon shaft 4 and in practice is lubricated so that it will slide freely in a vertical direction upon the shaft and will also freely oscillate about the shaft as an axis.

While the shape of the teeth may be altered somewhat without departing from the spirit of the invention, a good form is shown in the drawings in which the ratchet teeth 56 are in the form of pins, the acting faces whereof extend radially or at least near enough so to justify the statement that the teeth face in both directions, one side of a. tooth being adapted to cooperate with one of the pawl teeth and the other with the other. \Vhile not essential,.it is desirable that the spaces between the teeth contain obtuse angled points 57 the function whereof is chiefly to constitute fillets for reducing the clicking noise which might otherwise be produced, as the pawl teeth slide over them. These fillets also improve the action of the ratchet.

As the ratchet wheel is rigidly fastened to the shaft, it, of course, moves vertically with it and when the ratchet is rotated it will impart a corresponding rotary movement to stituted for fastening the stud to"the carrier. Said stud extends through a slot 62 formed at the end of an arm 64 fastened to and forming a part of the lever 32 shown in Fig. 1. The construction is such that as the arm 64 swingsin an are centered at pin 33, it will oscillate the pawl carrier about shaft 4 as an axis and cause the pawl teeth to drive the ratchet wheel in one direction or the other depending upon which of the two pawl teethv are in engagement with the ratchet wheel at the time.

It will be evident that as the pawl carrier is freely slidable upon shaft 4 its weight will always urge it to descend as far as possible. When in lowered position the long tooth 42 will engage the ratchet teeth 56 as shown in Fig. 10 and will drive the ratchet wheel in' an anticlockwise direction when viewed from the bottom as in Fig. 10, or in a clockwise direction when viewed from the top; but a cam 66 is formed upon the top of the ratchet wheel and this is so shaped that when the wheel has been rotated by the longer pawl tooth a certain amount, the cam will slip under the pawl carrier and force it upward to the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4. This causes the long tooth to be shifted up out of the plane of the ratchet wheel, whereupon spring .53 forces it radially inward so far that the point of the tooth extends to a point inside of the root circle of the ratchet wheel and thus prevents the long tooth from descending again even after the cam hasbeen rotated out from under the pawl carrier. This upward shifting of the long tooth brings the short tooth up into the plane of the ratchet wheel, with the result that the oscillatory movement of the pawl carrier causes the ratchet wheel to be driven down into it, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The

result is that the long tooth is once more in the plane of the ratchet wheel. The sides of notch 68 are so formed as to produce a ratchet tooth faced in such direction as to be actuated by the long-tooth of the pawl, con-' sequently the oscillatory movement of the pawl carrier now causes the long tooth to drive the ratchet wheel in the reverse direction. Thiscompletes the cycle of operation, the long tooth driving the ratchet wheel when the pawl carrier is lowered and the short tooth driving it when the pawl carrier is raised. In order to render the device smooth acting and assure the descent of the long tooth when it arrives at the notch 68, it is desirable to bevelthe upper surface of the ratchet wheel at the point 70 adjacent to the entering side of the notch. This permits the long tooth and supported parts to descend gradually and certainly. This construction also avoids the production of noise incident upon the descent of the parts.

The long pawl tooth 42 is so long that when it is seated in engagement with the ratchet teeth, the point of the short tooth will be outside of the point .circle of the ratchet teeth-that is, will be prevented from reaching the ratchet teeth, and hence willbe maintainednonacti-ve while the long tooth is acting, this characteristic being clearly illustrated in Fig. 10.

Although a matter chiefly of design, it is desirable that the pawl carrier be provided with a counterweight 72 located on the opposite side of the shaft from the pawl, thus tending to balance the carrier and promote the ease and certainty with which it will slide along the main shaft. I n

Th operation of the device will now be readily understood. The oscillatory move-' 'ment of the main lever 32 causes the vacuum cups 8 to rise and fall and at the same time causes the pawl carrier to oscillate about shaft 4. Assuming that the carrier is in down position with the long tooth 42 in engagement with the ratchet wheel; the ratchet wheel and shaft will be rotated intermit} tently in a direction in which the long tooth faces. Finally, however, the lifting cam 66 comes into action, raises the pawl carrier to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, brings the-short tooth into the plane of the ratchet wheel, and causes. the spring 53 to project thelong tooth over the blank surface of the ratchet wheel. The short'tooth now commences to act and intermittently rotates the ratchet wheel in the opposite direction. The vertical reciprocation of the vacuum cups is, of' course, maintained. during the entiretime, but whereas'the long tooth in; termittently rotates them in one direction; the short tooth intermittently rotates them 'injthe opposite direction. The action of the short tooth is continued until the notch 68 is reached, whereupon the awl carrier drops down to the lower posltion and the long tooth comes into action once more.

I do not herein claim the ratchet broadly but have done so in a divisional application filed February. 13, 1920, Serial No. 358,435.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A washing machine having a clothes receptacle, a main shaft coming up through the bottom of the receptacle and provided with plungers, means for reciprocating said shaft vertically, a ratchet wheel fastened to the shaft, a double pawl having teeth facing in opposite directions, means for moving said pawl back and forth for actuating said ratchet wheel, said vpawl having teeth facing in opposite directions, and means for causlng first one tooth and then the other tooth of the pawl to engage said ratchet wheel.

"2. A washing machine having a clothes to rotate independently of the lever, and a reversing ratchet having a ratchet wheel fastened to the shaft, a double pawl hav- 1 ing teeth facing in opposite directions,

means for oscillating said pawl about the shaft as an axis, and means for causing first one .tooth and then theother tooth of the pawl to engage said ratchet wheel.

3. A washing machine having a clothes receptacle, a main shaft coming up through the bottom of it and provided with plungers, means for reciprocating said shaft vertically, a ratchet wheel fastened to the shaft and .lyingin a horizontal plane with teeth formed in the periphery of the wheel, a pawl having a long tooth and a short tooth,

one facing in one direction and the other in the opposite direction, means formovin said pawl back'and forth-for actuating sai ratchet wheel, and means for shifting the pawl transversely to the plane of the ratchet wheel for bringin first the long tooth into engagement with t e ratchet wheel and then the short one, the long tooth being long enough to hold the short tooth nonactive when the long. tooth is in engagement with the ratchet wheel teeth and to overlie the blank portion of the ratchet wheel when the short toothis in the plane of and in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel.

4:. A washing machine having a clothes receptacle, a main shaft which is .both rotatable and axially movable, clothes engag .ing elements connected to said shaft, means for reciprocating said shaft axially, a ratchet wheel connected to the shaft, a double pawl having teeth facing in opposite directions, means for moving said pawl back and forth fonactjuating said ratchet wheel, said pawl havmg teeth facing in o posite directions, and means for causing rst one tooth and then'the other-tooth of the pawl to engage said ratchet wheel.

5. in a device of the class described, combination, a support, a reciprocatory shaft 1n said support, andmeansto rotate said shaft during the reciprocation including a ratchet wheel having all of its teethin a common' plane at right angles "to its, axis, some of the acting faces of the ratchet teeth facing in one direction and others facing in the opposite direction,

a double pawl for actuating said ratchet wheel, said pawl having one tooth facing in one direction and another toothfacing in the opposite direction,the ratchet wheel, and pawl being capable of relative iao motion in the direction of the axis of the wheel, and means for periodically causin relative motion between the wheel and paw in the direction of the wheel axis'for reversing the direction of rotation of the shaft;

6. In a washing machine, a clothes receptacle, a reciprocatory and rotary shaft supported vertically in said receptacle, a ratchet wheel connected to said shaft, said 'wheel having teeth all'arranged in a common plane and with acting faces some of which face in one direction and others face'in-the oppoand means for producing a reciprocatory Lamaze movement of the shaft for every angular movement of the ratchet wheel.

7. In a washing machine of the class wherein plungers are spaced at a distance from each other and carried by arms which have a step by step angular or rotary move-..

ment and also a reciprocatory movement in a direction at right angles to the lane of rotation, and the arms are carrie at the upper end of a shaft which projects up through the bottom of the clothes receptacle and is actuated by mechanism be'neath said receptacle, means for periodically reversing the direction of rotatlon of the arms after they have taken a plurality of angular steps in a given direction.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

HOWARD s'. CRAVER. 

